Electron emission device, electron emission display, and manufacturing method of the electron emission device

Abstract

An electron emission device may be constructed with a substrate, cathode electrodes formed on the substrate along one direction of the substrate, gate electrodes crossing perpendicularly over the cathode electrodes with an insulating layer interposed between the gate and cathode electrodes, openings formed through the gate electrodes and the insulating layer, and electron emission regions placed on the cathode electrodes within the corresponding openings. Each gate electrode includes a main body, isolated portions surrounding the respective electron emission regions and isolated from the main body with a distance, and a connector interconnecting at least one of the isolated portions and the main body. The connectors may be selectively removed so that at least one of the isolated portions is electrically insulated from the main body, in order to thereby enhance the light emission uniformity per pixel.

1 . An electron emission device, comprising: 
 a substrate;    a plurality of spaced-apart cathode electrodes formed on one major surface of the substrate aligned in one direction along the substrate;    a plurality of gate electrodes disposed across the cathode electrodes, each gate electrode comprising a main body, isolated portions spaced-apart from the main body and surrounding corresponding electron emission regions, and a connector electrically interconnecting at least one of the isolated portions and the main body;    an electrically insulating layer interposed between the cathode electrodes and the gate electrodes; and    electron emission material placed on the cathode electrodes within corresponding ones of the regions via openings formed through the gate electrodes and the insulating layer.    
   
   
       2 . The electron emission device of  claim 1 , comprised of the isolated portions being divided into two or more sub-portions within corresponding ones of openings, and at least one of the divided sub-portions being connected to the main body via a corresponding connector.  
   
   
       3 . The electron emission device of  claim 1 , comprised of at least one of the connectors being cut to control the electron emission uniformity per pixel.  
   
   
       4 . The electron emission device of  claim 1 , further comprising a focusing electrode perforated by a plurality of orifices aligned with the electron emission regions and disposed over the gate electrodes, and an additional insulating layer interposed between the gate electrodes and the focusing electrode.  
   
   
       5 . An electron emission display, comprising: 
 first and second spaced-apart substrates facing each other;    cathode electrodes disposed with a first orientation on the first substrate;    gate electrodes separated from the cathode electrodes by an insulating layer, disposed across the cathode electrodes, each gate electrode comprising a main body, isolated portions spaced-apart from the main body and surrounding corresponding electron emission regions, and a connector electrically interconnecting at least one of the isolated portions and the main body;    electron emission material placed on the cathode electrodes within openings perforating the gate electrodes and the insulating layer;    phosphor layers formed on a surface of the second substrate; and    an anode electrode formed across a surface of the phosphor layers.    
   
   
       6 . The electron emission display of  claim 5 , comprised of the isolated portions being divided into two or more sub-portions within corresponding ones of openings, and at least one of the divided sub-portions being connected to the main body via a corresponding connector.  
   
   
       7 . The electron emission display of  claim 5 , comprised of at least one of the connectors being cut to control the electron emission uniformity per pixel.  
   
   
       8 . The electron emission display of  claim 5 , further comprising a focusing electrode perforated by a plurality of orifices aligned with the electron emission regions and disposed over the gate electrodes, and an additional insulating layer interposed between the gate electrodes and the focusing electrode.  
   
   
       9 . A method of manufacturing an electron emission device, the method comprising the steps of: 
 sequentially forming on a substrate, cathode electrodes, an insulating layer and main bodies of gate electrodes;    forming openings through main bodies of the gate electrodes and the insulating layer, and simultaneously, forming isolated portions spaced-apart and electrically isolated from the main bodies, and connectors electrically interconnecting the main bodies and the isolated portions;    forming electron emission regions within different ones of the openings;    testing uniformity of light emission for each pixel formed by an array of the regions while applying a potential difference across the cathode and the gate electrodes; and    selectively removing at least one connector from pixels determined to be abnormally bright in dependence upon differentiated uniformity in the light emission.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , comprised of forming the isolated portions and the connectors simultaneously with the step of forming the main bodies.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , comprised of making a determination that a pixel is abnormally bright by testing the uniformity in the light emission uniformity per pixel using a white balance tester based on a vacuum chamber.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 9 , comprised of making a determination that a pixel is abnormally bright by testing the uniformity in the light emission uniformity per pixel using a white balance tester after the substrate and another substrate with a light emission unit are assembled and sealed to each other.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 9 , comprised of selecting removing the at least one connector with a laser.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the connectors are formed with a width of several micrometers (μm) to several tens of micrometers (μm).  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 9 , comprised of adjusting electron emission uniformity of a pixel by selective cutting at least one of the connectors in each array.  
   
   
       16 . An electron emission display constructed with the electron emission device of  claim 1 , comprising: 
 phosphor layers formed on a second substrate; and    an anode electrode formed across the phosphor layers.    
   
   
       17 . The electron emission display of  claim 16 , comprised of the isolated portions being divided into two or more sub-portions within corresponding ones of openings, and at least one of the divided sub-portions being connected to the main body via a corresponding connector.  
   
   
       18 . The electron emission display of  claim 16 , further comprising a focusing electrode perforated by a plurality of orifices aligned with the electron emission regions and disposed over the gate electrodes, and an additional insulating layer interposed between the gate electrodes and the focusing electrode.  
   
   
       19 . The electron emission display of  claim 16 , comprising of the regions being grouped in a plurality of different, discrete pixels with each pixel comprised of: 
 a plurality of the regions spaced-apart and surrounded by a corresponding one of the isolated portions, and    the connectors distributed throughout the pixel in dependence upon differentiation in the uniformity of light emission between the pixels.    
   
   
       20 . The electron emission display of  claim 5 , comprised of the regions being grouped into a plurality of different, discrete pixels with each pixel comprised of: 
 a plurality of the regions spaced-apart and surrounded by a corresponding one of the isolated portions, and    the connectors distributed throughout the pixel in dependence upon differentiation in the uniformity of light emission between the pixels.    
   
   
       21 . An electron emission device manufactured according to the method of  claim 9 , comprised of the regions being grouped into a plurality of different, discrete pixels with each pixel comprised of: 
 a plurality of the regions spaced-apart and surrounded by a corresponding one of the isolated portions, and    the connectors distributed throughout the pixel in dependence upon differentiation in the uniformity of light emission between the pixels.